


The Men in Plaid

by Markuse88



Series: Markuse88 Inktober 2019 [16]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Castiel in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Domestic destiel, M/M, brief homophobic language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22144657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Markuse88/pseuds/Markuse88
Summary: Sam comes across a website devoted to, (mostly), second-hand stories of Hunters. He, Castiel, and Jack all take an immediate interest. Dean resists for as long as he can. However after an awkward conversation with Jack, Dean falls down the rabbit hole. When all is said and done...he's kinda glad for it.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Markuse88 Inktober 2019 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1501292
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	The Men in Plaid

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is like SUUUUUPER late. It's for the 2019 Inktober prompt list. The prompt is Legend. I kinda went in a different direction with it. I think it works, and I think it's interesting. I hope you enjoy. More notes at the end of the story. This is self-edited so all mistakes are mine. Beta-read for content by the amazing Cowandcalf. I would love to hear your thoughts and I hope you enjoy. Also please feel free to offer suggestions for tags as I tend to come up blank.

**_The Men, (and sometimes Women) in Plaid._ **

**_This website is dedicated to that shadowy group of people who show up whenever something weird happens, whenever something goes bump in the night. No, not the Men in Black. The Men, (and sometimes Women), in Plaid. Disembodied footsteps? They’re there. Strange smells? They’re there. Missing persons or animal attacks that are in no way animal attacks? They’re there. They crisscross the country, using fake names, (sometimes even impersonating law enforcement), doing what they do before taking off into the night with nary a trace. Who are they? What do they do? Where do they come from? Where do they go when they leave? Why are they so fond of_ plaid _?_**

**_Some call them myths, others murderers. A few call them saints and heroes. You be the judge._ **

**_Disclaimer: We here at MIP claim no ownership, nor do we confirm or deny the validity, of the accounts you find herein. There is room here for believers and detractors alike. Our only mandate is civility. Doxing will not be tolerated. Nor will harassment or threats._ **

Dean read the website's header aloud before cocking an eye at Sammy. Sam was giving him a wide and excited grin. Dean turned to Jack, whose smile was equal to Sam’s. Finally, Dean turned to Castiel and was surprised to see that the angel, while not as excited as the others, was looking at the laptop with a definite air of curiosity.

“Okay, so what is it?” Dean asked, not fully getting why Sammy was so excited. He couldn’t help but smile when Sam leveled Bitch face #4 at him. (That was Sam’s “I’m pretty sure you’re fucking with me but I’m gonna reply anyway” bitch face).

“Dean, don’t you get it? This is a website about _us,_ about _hunters_ ,” Sam gestured at the screen, “I mean I haven’t gone through the whole thing, and there aren’t any names given obviously, but I recognize some of the cases and descriptions of hunters on here. I think there are even accounts of Bobby and Rufus on here.” As Sam explained Dean felt his own curiosity peak a little.

“So like, this is stuff written by survivors or people that got saved?” Dean was torn between being interested and worried. What if the names of hunters got out? Sam though suddenly looked a bit crest-fallen.

“No, well at least not that I’ve found. A lot of them seem to be second hand or from people that had been interviewed. Or were just kind of, _around_ but not connected. But that’s not the point. I mean its people talking about hunters, talking about the work they do, the work _we_ do.” Sam replied and Dean knew from his tone that he was annoyed that he wasn’t more excited about it.

“That’s great Sammy. Hope you guys have fun with it.” Dean replied before leaving the three of them in the library. Dean wasn’t sure why he wasn’t excited about the find. Hunting had always been a thankless job and once upon a time Dean had bemoaned that fact. In his younger days, he craved the recognition, the validation. He had grown up a lot since then though, learned that hunting was best kept to the shadows. Still, that didn’t explain it. It wasn’t like the website was naming hunters. Dean seriously doubted if anyone on there even knew what they were talking about. Still, it dug at something in the back of his mind that he wasn’t willing to go poking at. Instead, he pushed it deeper and focused on making dinner.

***

“Dean, can I ask you a question?” Dean looked up from the stove as Jack came into the kitchen, carrying Sammy’s old laptop.

“Sure kid, go ahead.” Dean replied as he turned back to his burgers. Sammy and mom were due back later that night, having been out on a hunt with some of the hunters from Apocalypse World, and Dean wanted to make sure there was something waiting for them.

“Why would you want to hit someone for being happy?” Jack asked, voice full of confusion, as he set the laptop down on the counter.

“What the hell, what are you talking about?” Dean turned to Jack and caught a glimpse of the MIP webpage. Dean fought hard against rolling his eyes. It had been a few weeks since the discovery of the page and Dean had done a good job of avoiding both the page and talking about it, despite Sam, Cas, and Jack surfing the page daily. Cas had even taken to looking through it on his phone while they were in bed.

Thankfully Dean was a master of distracting the angel.

“I was reading on the MIP website. One of the people talks about wanting to hit someone, one of the hunters, for being happy.” Jack explained, turning the laptop to give Dean a better view. Knowing he couldn’t get away from it Dean checked his burgers before turning to the web page.

**‘ _I dunno if this belongs here as they weren’t wearing plaid, but the rest fits the description. To make a long story short I live in Indiana, a few years ago some people went missing. Cops couldn’t find them. I didn’t know any of them personally. Suddenly though there was this pair poking around town, a guy and a girl, same age as me, (twenties). They said they were photography students from IU and came to photograph the local state forest for a project. I never saw any cameras and they asked a lot of questions about the missing folks and if anything strange had been going on around town. When they talked to me I was at work, so I couldn’t pay much attention. Pretty sure the guy was gay; should have hit on him when I had the chance. But anyway a few days later they were gone and all the missing people were back. I heard they told the cops they were held captive by some gang in the woods that just took off one night. I saw one of them at the city pool this last summer, he’s got wicked-looking scars on his legs, like jagged bite marks. I dunno who the pair was or who had kidnapped those people but I don’t think it was humans._**

**_GodOfThunderThighs,_ ’**

Dean felt himself flush as he read the entry, had none of them ever had this conversation with Jack? He and Cas were together, and while they didn’t flaunt it everyone knew…or did they? Dean looked up at Jack, wide-eyed, curious, and innocent despite everything that had happened to him in Apocalypse world. Shit, he was not ready to have this conversation. To buy himself some time Dean scrolled through the comments, wondering if the hunters were who he thought they were. Further down the original poster had made a comment describing them. They didn’t remember the names but from the general description, dark-skinned, attractive, guy’s head was shaved, Dean was pretty sure it was Alicia and Max.

“So, why would this person want to hit someone for being happy?” Jack asked again and Dean closed his eyes to gather his strength. He was really going to have to have this conversation. There was no way in hell he was having it around Sam and Mom and Cas was in Heaven with Gabriel, he wasn’t due back for a few more days. The two of them were working on giving the angels back their wings. Cas split his time between Heaven and the Bunker.

“Ok, Jack sit down and listen carefully cause I am _not_ gonna have this conversation again.” Dean told him and Jack pulled a barstool right up next to the stove and fixed bright and curious eyes on him. Dean took another deep breath, checked his burgers, and pushed ahead.

“This doesn’t mean what you think it means. Gay doesn’t mean ‘happy’. Well, it does, but it’s not the common way to say it anymore. I don’t know how you know _that_ meaning but not this one,” Jack opened his mouth, probably to explain himself, but Dean just waved it away and barreled on, “In this context ‘gay’ means someone who is attracted to someone of the same sex. The guy this one is talking about, who I think is a hunter named Max Banes, is gay. He likes other men.” Dean felt his ears burn as he spoke and kept his focus on the stove.

“So this hunter, Max, is like you and Castiel?” Jacked asked and Dean felt himself flush.

“Yes and no…I mean I like guys…but I like women too. They call people like me Bi, or bisexual. It means we like both. Cas…hell, I dunno about Cas. We’ve never talked about it and I don’t care so long as he keeps coming back to me.” Dean replied honestly. Cas’s orientation wasn’t something they had ever talked about. He knew Cas had been with at least one woman, the Reaper April, but he was pretty sure that he was the only man.

“So GodOfThunderThighs was wanting to hit Max because he was gay? That seems wrong.” Jack replied as he turned back to the computer. Dean wanted to smack himself with a frying pan. He wasn’t ready to explain gays _and_ homophobia to the kid. He would leave _that one_ to Sam or Cas.

“No Jack, he wasn’t wanting to _hit_ him, he wanted to _hit on him_. When you hit on someone it means you flirt with them, you show them you’re interested in them. Romantically or sexually.” Dean explained with a small grin. Flirting was one thing he was comfortable talking about.

Jack was quiet for a little while and Dean took the time to finish the meat and slide it into the oven to keep warm until Sam and mom got back. He was cutting up vegetables for toppings when Jack suddenly stood and collected the laptop.

“Thank you for helping Dean. I think I will take some time and look up information on different orientations.” Jack told him as he left the kitchen, laptop under his arm.

Dean had just finished slicing tomatoes and onions when the implications of that sentence hit him. Dean abandoned his preparations and went after Jack. There was no way in hell he was explaining _porn_ to the kid. Cas would never forgive him.

***

Dean lost the battle with avoiding the MIP website after talking with Jack. It started off as something of a game with himself, scrolling through and seeing how many cases or hunters he could identify. The game though quickly turned from fun curiosity to genuine interest though when he found a special forum marked Pretty Boy and the Hair. The forum turned out to be about _him and Sam._ Dean was fast to fall into the entries in the forum.

***

_**‘This was a long ass time ago but I swear it’s true. I live in Blackwater Ridge, Colorado and back in 2005, some guys went missing in the forest nearby. Now, this isn’t unusual. People have been going missing in there for years. But this time it was the brother of a guy I went to school with. He and his sister didn’t think he was missing but instead was hurt, rumor was he sent them a video or something, so they hired a guide and were going to go in looking for him. My uncle worked at the ranger station at the time and I heard him talking about how, a few days before they went in to look for their brother, these two guys showed up claiming to be friends of the sister. But the thing is she’d never left Blackwater Ridge and no one had ever met these guys before. Anyway, they headed out into the forest with these guys to find their brother.**_

_‘ **They came back a few days later all beat up and banged up with the older brother that had been missing. The guide they hired was dead, along with the friends that the older brother had been camping with. The story that got floated around was that they were attacked by this massive deranged bear or something. After that the guys were gone, I heard later that they had pretended to be Rangers or something. The thing is though my uncle and some volunteers went out looking for this so-called bear. They were out for nearly a week and didn’t turn up**_ **any _evidence of a bear. The family stuck to the story and never talked about the two guys. My folks divorced and we moved so I dunno whatever happened. I just moved back a few months ago, after I found this website, and I remembered the event. I never saw these guys but from what I’ve heard they fit the description of Pretty Boy and The Hair. Something else weird I found though after I dug into Blackwater Ridge’s history, was that the disappearances around here happened something like every twenty-three years or so. Fucking weird right? The family still live here, I dunno what the older siblings do, they run some kind of business out of their house and seem to travel a lot. The youngest one writes horror stories and ghost story books._**

**_DeepWoodsRedoubt’_ **

The Wendigo, the first true case that he and Sam had worked together. The Collins family, Dean hadn’t thought about them in a long time. He was glad to hear that they were doing well. He made a mental note to check in on them. It sounded like Haley and Tommy might be doing something of the Hunter variety. Aside from that though it felt…nice…knowing that the Collins’ hadn’t told others about them. That was the first time he and Sam had revealed who and what they were. It would have been easy for any of them to sell him and Sam out. But they didn’t, they didn’t even talk about them.

**_‘This TOTALLY belongs here. Years ago I was working on a movie, Hell Hazers Two. It was never released, (thank god because it was GARBAGE). I was just a low-level gopher so I wasn’t_ on set _a lot but weird shit started happening. It was small at first, misplaced items, equipment malfunctions, reels inexplicably damaged or for some other reason useless. Just weird stuff. Anyway, these two guys showed up, two guys that match the descriptions of PB and TH, (Pretty Boy and The Hair). I mean I didn’t think anything about it_ then _. PB was suddenly a Production Assistant while TH was just kind of around. Anyway looking back when these two showed up things got_ really bad _, I mean people_ dying _bad. Even the original writer died…like a really weird and gruesome death. There was a lot of talk about shutting the movie down, they said it was cursed._**

**_I dunno what happened but after the writer died everything just…stopped. I mean it was a total one-eighty. PB and TH also just vanished after it was done. Though I did hear a rumor that PB hooked up with one of the stars. I asked around once it was all said and done and no one knew who these guys were. I mean no one even seemed to know their names, where they came from, or how they even got their jobs._ **

**_HollyHillzhazEyez’_ **

Dean smiled as he read the entry. Tara Benchley, man that was a dream come true. It was one of the best experiences of his life. It still paled in comparison to what he had with Cas but it was still a fond memory. It was a bittersweet memory though. Sure they had saved Flagg and Tara and a lot of others but they hadn’t been able to rescue Walter Dixon. Some may have said that he got what he deserved, enslaving a bunch of ghosts to do his bidding but Dean hated losing people, even if they turned out to be bad guys. It was his job, his _responsibility_ to save people. Dean _knew_ that he couldn’t save everyone but that didn’t mean he didn’t hate those losses.

“I thought you weren’t going to get involved with the MIP website?” Dean jumped and slammed his phone face down on the table at Castiel’s voice. He turned around to find the angel in question standing behind him with a smile. Dean hadn’t heard the angel creep up on him, he must have been really into the website.

“Well, what can I say, curiosity killed the cat.” Dean replied with a smirk.

“You know that’s not what the phrase means, right?” Cas replied, reaching around Dean to take his phone.

Dean attempted to grab it but Cas was faster and flicked the screen on and browsed through the page.

“I see you found the forum devoted to you and Sam.” Cas said with a small smile.

“You know about that?” Dean asked in surprise.

“Yes. I’ve gone through the entirety of the forum.” Cas replied, handing Dean back his phone.

Dean stowed his phone without meeting Cas’s eye. He hadn’t gone through the whole forum so he didn’t know what stories there were about him in there. Cas may have _known_ about his checkered past but _knowing_ and _knowing details_ were different animals.

“Is something wrong Dean?” Cas asked, stepping into Dean’s space as he stood up.

“Na Cas, I’m fine. Just...just don’t believe everything you’ve read in there. You know how people like to exaggerate.” Dean replied without meeting the angel’s eyes.

Cas though gave him his patented Head Tilt and Squint before smiling again.

“Actually I have found that “Pretty Boy and the Hair”, (Dean smiled at Cas’ use of air quotes around the forum’s name), is the freest of embellishment on the site.” Cas seemed very sure of himself which left Dean a bit puzzled.

“There are some entries on there from the old days Cas, before we met, how would you know about them being straight?” Dean asked and Cas smiled again, though it was a bit brittle around the edges.

“Metatron downloaded the Carver Edlund books into my mind with his Popular Culture lesson. I am well aware of much of your case related history.” Dean repressed a burst of anger at the mention of Metatron messing with Castiel. Everything with Metatron and the Mark still pissed Dean off.

“Sorry Cas, I didn’t think about that.” Dean apologized and Cas nodded.

“It’s alright Dean. I just wanted you to understand that this website isn’t going to color my opinion of you. I know well who you are.” Cas told him and reached out to rest his hands on his waist. Dean smiled and reeled the angel in by his belt loops, MIP website forgotten.

***

After talking to Cas, Dean tried to stay away from the MIP website but in the end, he wound up browsing back through it. He wasn’t sure why but the forum for him and Sam kept drawing him in. It was like he was looking for something.

**_‘When I first found this website it thought it was a bunch of dumbasses with no lives making stuff up. But then I found this forum and I remembered something I heard my grandpa talking about when I was a kid. He was living in this no-where town up in Michigan, Ypsilanti or something like that. Anyway, he was working in this Christmas village, selling homemade decorations and stuff. Some guys, apparently a couple of homos from what he said, came looking for specific wreaths that this old couple had donated to him. Gramps didn’t have any more of them but he told them where he had got them. A couple of days later the old couple were dead, stabbed with tree branches or something. Furthermore, grandpa said several other people had gone missing, and were presumed dead, as well. Gramps always regretted telling those two where he got the wreaths._**

**_There was no trace of the homos, they just vanished. You can call them heroes if you want. If they’re real though all they are is a couple of fag murderers._ **

**_AllthisIZbull’_ **

Dean was torn between laughing and throwing his phone. It was always fun to mess with people that thought Sam and he were a couple and the old dude back in Michigan was no exception. That wasn’t what bothered him…getting called a murderer though, that pissed him off. Madge and Edward had been the murderers. Dean would have thought that the human remains would have pointed toward that. Apparently, though that wasn’t mentioned anywhere.

“Hey, Dean, what’s up?” Sam pulled him out of his musing as he came into the kitchen. Dean popped the top off a beer and pushed his phone across the counter to Sam. Sam picked it up without a word and read through the entry.

“Man I don’t miss the days of being mistaken for your boyfriend. I’m guessing that’s not what’s got you pissed though.” Sam replied, passing Dean back his phone. Dean pocketed it without a word and took another pull off his beer.

“I guess that is the downside of being a hunter. It’s hard to defend yourself if you can’t stick around for the dust to settle. On the other hand though…maybe that’s a good thing. I mean we’ve always said that we do this so regular people don’t have to. We deal with the monsters to keep them from knowing they're around? Sometimes that means taking the blame. It’s not the best but it’s what we do, it’s who we are.” Sam told him and Dean had to swallow hard past the lump in his throat. There was a lot Dean wanted to say to that but he was worried if he opened his mouth he would end up bawling in front of Sammy. His ban on Chick Flick Moments was largely defunct but Dean still tried to keep tears limited to life-changing moments. Instead, he put his beer aside and pulled Sammy into a long hug.

***

Talking with Sammy had given Dean back his perspective and he was able to read through the entries calling them, calling _him_ a murderer without getting too bent out of shape. He honestly didn’t know why he kept bothering with the forum, he knew the cases. He had been there. He knew what happened. He didn’t need to read rumors and half-truths about them. Still, though he kept going back.

**_‘I’m not gonna tell you guys my name. I’ll just tell you that I’m from Wisconsin and that I actually_ met _the guys you call Pretty Boy and The Hair when I was a kid. They saved my life. Mine and my mom’s. They’re good guys. Heroes. My grandpa (RIP) and one of his friends did something when they were kids. I don’t know all the details. All I know is another kid died. Later, when they were old, their families started dying. The kids’ ghost came back and was killing them off. I’m not gonna say how. But he came for me and my mom. They saved us. The one you all call ‘Pretty Boy’ talked to me a lot. Told me about how he knew what it was like to see things that people didn’t believe in. You see I saw this ghost take my dad and no one believed me. He told me about losing his mom, how he loved Army men when he was a kid and that chick dug artists, (I was drawing the first time we met)._**

**_You guys can say this is all fake. That we’re making stuff up or have read too many pulp novels. But the truth is still the truth. These guys are real and them, and the people like them, are heroes. I owe my life to them._ **

**_P.S One other thing PB taught me, ZEPPLIN RULES!’_ **

**_ChikzdIgArtiztz’_**

Dean wiped his eyes and set his phone aside. Lucas Barr, Lake Manitoc. Dean would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about that kid over the years. Dean always thought about the kids, hoping that they were doing good. Getting up from his bed he sat down at the desk and booted up his laptop. Feeling vaguely stalkerish he brought up a search page and typed in Lucas’ name. A few hours later he was so absorbed in his search that he didn’t realize Cas had come in until the angel in question dropped a hand on his shoulder. Dean would forever deny the startled yelp that left his mouth, as well as the fact that he all but jumped out of the chair.

“I’m sorry Dean, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Cas apologized sincerely. Dean though waved the apology away and tugged Cas closer to the desk.

“Don’t worry about it man, I wasn’t paying attention. Look at this though,” Dean gestured to the screen with a smile as Cas bent down to look, “This is a kid that me and Sam helped, when we first started hunting together again, this was the **_first_** kid we saved.” Dean waved at the screen as Cas scrolled through the website.

“Lucas Barr, from Lake Manitoc. The vengeful spirit of a boy killed by his grandpa…you found his entry on the forum,” Cas spoke with a smiled but went on before Dean could reply, “Moderately successful free-lance comic book and graphic novel artist. Happily married with a child on the way. Lives in Seattle Washington. He and his wife plan to give their son the middle name ‘Zepplin’.” Cas read through the bio of Lucas’s artist website with a smile while Dean looked on.

“You knew he had posted there, why didn’t you tell me?” Dean asked quietly.

“Indeed, as I said I have read the entirety of the forum. I didn’t tell you because I hoped you would find it on your own.” Cas replied as he straightened up and leaned back against the desk.

Dean looked back at the page. Lucas had kept the long hair, had a few piercings, and the pic on his site showed him wearing a backward cap and a Led Zepplin T-shirt. He looked like he was happy and seemed to be doing well. He closed the page and then the laptop before looking back at the angel.

“I kinda wish you had told me. I…I think about the kids a lot. I’ve always been kinda worried about looking them up though.” Dean confessed almost silently. It was something that he hadn’t told anyone before. Not even Sam.

Cas reached out and rested a hand on his cheek, Dean closed his eyes and relaxed into the touch; he was turning into such a sap.

“Maybe I should have. I suppose I was just hoping you would find it for yourself and discover it’s meaning on your own. I felt like it would mean more that way, rather than having me point it out.” Cas told him and Dean nodded without opening his eyes, still leaning into Cas’s hand.

“You do understand, don’t you?” Cas asked him and Dean finally opened his eyes and looked up at the angel.

“It means that what we do _is_ important. That it _does_ make a difference. That we may have losses but our wins mean a lot too.” It was something that Dean _did_ know. On the surface. Just not something he had ever really accepted. He, like all hunters he guessed, always took the losses harder than they appreciated the wins. You carried the weight of the dead around with you more easily than the living.

Finding out how well Lucas was doing really drove home the point that the people they saved were still out there. Living and doing their thing.

“I’ve been thinking of looking into some of the others that we’ve helped over the years. Especially the kids…you want to give me a hand?” Dean offered with a smile.

“I would love to.” Cas offered, before leaning down pressing a kiss to his lips **.**

**Author's Note:**

> I have plans to expand this later. Include scenes with Sam and Castiel reading about themselves. The timeline on this is after their return from Apocalypse world. Only in my Story, Gabriel lives and Lucifer is dead. That's not mentioned in the story but it's how it is. Also, the events referencing Alica and Max are BEFORE Alicia dies.   
>  I tried to play with the meaning of Legend. I wanted the stories of Hunters to be like Urban Legends. Like how it is always a friend of a friend or a story you hear-second hand. I think it came off, but I could have probably done better. I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear from you.   
> Find me on tumblr @ https://mcdannoangelwolf.tumblr.com


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